Local area and other data networks are now found in many homes, businesses and other environments. Although data networks were originally developed to allow computers to communicate with each other, modern data networks allow many other types of devices to conveniently share data with each other. In addition to computers, phones and other conventional communications devices, many modern consumer electronics devices such as televisions, television receivers/set top boxes, video game consoles, media players and the like are now network-enabled, thereby greatly improving the convenience and the availability of new services and features for consumers.
Media placeshifting is just one example of an application that makes use of networked components that are typically located within a home or office network. So-called placeshifting devices allow the consumer to change the viewing location for his or her media content. Rather than being limited to watching content on a home television, for example, placeshifting allows customer to transmit his or her own media content over a network to another location. Traditional placeshifting devices typically receive a video signal that would otherwise be provided directly to a television from a receiver, media player or other video source. Rather than providing the video signal to the local television display, however, a conventional placeshifting device converts the received video signal into a network stream that can be transmitted over the Internet or another network to the user's mobile phone, tablet, personal computer, or other client device. This greatly improves the user's viewing experience by freeing the user from his or her home television while still providing the user's own content in the placeshifted media stream.
As home and office networks become increasing complex, however, challenges in establishing communications between devices can arise. Many home networks now contain multiple wireless and/or wired networks that are inter-connected by one or more bridges, routers, gateways and/or other routing devices. A typical home network, for example, now includes a cable or digital services link (DSL) modem as well as one or more wireless access points (WAPs), as well as any number of bridges, switches, hubs and/or other network components. Each of these components may have different standard or non-standard configurations based upon manufacturer defaults, user-applied configuration changes, and/or any number of other factors. Home network topologies and operations, then, can vary widely from user to user and home to home.
This variation can create substantial uncertainty in locating server nodes (such as placeshifting devices or other media sources) on a user's home network. Since it is difficult for a device manufacturer to predict how any particular home or office network will operate, it can be relatively difficult to design products such as placeshifting devices that rely upon communications between clients and servers operating within the unknown environment. This problem is not limited to placeshifting; similar issues are encountered in other types of media streaming, video gaming, file sharing and in many other applications.
It is therefore desirable to assist client nodes in identifying sources of services that may be available on a user's home or office network, even though the home or office network may be relatively complex and/or may involve multiple routing devices. This and other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background section.